


Subconsciously Ensnared

by A Magiluna Stormwriter (ariestess), ariestess



Series: The Last Temptation of OQ [7]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, Developing Relationship, Dreams and Nightmares, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, F/M, Light Angst, OQ Book Week 2020 (Once Upon a Time), Pregnancy, References to Charlotte's Web, Spiders, Twins, Witness Protection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:53:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23662645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ariestess/pseuds/A%20Magiluna%20Stormwriter, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ariestess/pseuds/ariestess
Summary: Her last thought before she loses consciousness is that she'll never meet her babies…
Relationships: Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Robin Hood
Series: The Last Temptation of OQ [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1378660
Comments: 8
Kudos: 6
Collections: OQ Book Week





	Subconsciously Ensnared

**Author's Note:**

> Date Written: 14 April 2020  
> Word Count: 1616  
> Written for: OQBookWeek 2020  
> Inspiration: _Charlotte's Web_ by E.B. White  
> Summary: Her last thought before she loses consciousness is that she'll never meet her babies…  
> Spoilers: Non-magical, modern AU set within the cloistered walls of a small town Catholic church and Aurora, CO. Everything we know of these characters is up for grabs and not set in stone. This particular fic takes place one week after the events of "Welcomed, Not Wild".  
> Warnings: No standard warnings apply.  
> Series: The Last Temptation of OQ  
> Website: ShatterStorm Productions – Doggie Duo  
> Link to: http://bdkk.shatterstorm.net/  
> Archive: ShatterStorm Productions & AO3 only…all others ask for permission & we'll see…  
> Feedback: Constructive criticism is always welcome.
> 
> Author’s Disclaimer: "Once Upon a Time," the characters, and situations depicted are the property of Adam Horowitz, Edward Kitsis, Kitsis/Horowitz, and ABC Studios. This piece of fan fiction was created for entertainment not monetary purposes. Previously unrecognized characters and places, and this story, are copyrighted to the author. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. This site is in no way affiliated with "Once Upon a Time," ABC, or any representatives of the actors.
> 
> Author’s Notes: Okay, so first things first. All _italicized dialogue_ in the first part of this fic is taken from page 31, Chapter 4 of the book. That said, this was fun to write, tbh, and ended up differently from what I was originally intended, which was to include either a little spider taking up residence in Stuart's cage or Regina getting Stuart a spider stuffed animal that he sleeps on that she names Charlotte. Both would've involved jokes from Robin about how Stuart should've been called Templeton, with Regina retorting that he's a mouse, not a rat. Another early idea dealt with Robin being afraid of spiders and wanting to hoover one up, but Regina teasing him and relocating the spider out to the garden. Apparently my muses chose this current plotline instead. Go figure… LOLOL
> 
> Dedication: My muses, as usual…
> 
> Beta: Not at the moment, but Taylor is the best cheerleader!

They've been reading to the babies every night for weeks now. It's a comforting ritual that allows Robin and Regina to bond with each other, as well as with their unborn sons, as they learn about each other's childhood favorite books. After finishing _Stuart Little_ , which had become all the more personal after finding their own Stuart last week, they'd just started reading _Charlotte's Web_ two nights ago. They've shared the duty of doing the voices, but Robin has done the bulk of the narrative reading. His voice is soothing, and she's drifted off to sleep on more than one occasion during their nightly reads, prompting the new rule that they occur at bedtime or her more regularly occurring naptimes only.

"Regina?" Robin asks softly, pulling her from her drowsy thoughts. "Love, did I lose you?"

She shakes her head slowly with a sheepish smile. "Almost, but not quite. Did you finish the chapter yet?"

"Just a little bit left. Wilbur's about to get a surprise. Did you want to do the voice or just have me finish out the chapter?" He strokes her cheek gently. "You're looking a bit peaked. Are you sure you're all right?"

"Just tired and fighting a bit of a headache, nothing serious. But I'm good to finish the chapter first."

"All right," he replies with a smile, shifting to press a kiss to her forehead. "I love you."

"I love you, too." The words are a bit garbled by a yawn, making her cheeks heat up in a blush, but she snuggles into his side more and waits for him to start up again to figure out where they are in the chapter.

" _Darkness settled over everything_ ," Robin says, picking up where he'd left off. " _Soon there were only shadows and the noises of the sheep chewing their cuds, and occasionally the rattle of a cow-chain up overhead. You can imagine Wilbur's surprise when, out of the darkness, came a small voice he had never heard before. It sounded rather thin, but pleasant._ "

Regina smiles and picks up the next bit, modulating her tone a bit. " _'Do you want a friend, Wilbur?' it said. 'I'll be a friend to you. I've watched you all day and I like you.'_ "

Resting his cheek against her hair, Robin continues in the voice he's chosen for Wilbur, " _'But I can't see you,' said Wilbur, jumping to his feet. 'Where are you? And_ who _are you?'_ "

" _'I'm right up here,' said the voice. 'Go to sleep. You'll see me in the morning.'_ " She no more than finishes her part, and the chapter itself, and her jaw cracks in a huge yawn. "I can't believe how tired I am."

"Then it's a good thing we're going to bed now, isn't it, love?"

The slow, easy smile he bestows on her is enough to warm her heart until she thinks it might burst from feeling too much. Twenty-two weeks into her pregnancy, six months since they first met under such embarrassing circumstances for her, and she finds herself falling more and more in love with this man that God put into her path every minute of every hour of every day.

"What about Stuart?"

Robin chuckles and sets the book aside on his nightstand. "You go brush your teeth and tend to any other ablutions you need, love. I'll go make sure our little furry friend has fresh water and enough Mazuri pellets to last the night, since I know it's cage cleaning day tomorrow, then I'll be back up to get ready for bed myself."

"I'll try to stay awake until you're back," Regina says as she shifts to get out of bed. She's not hugely pregnant yet, but the babies have made her belly big enough to make her balance a bit wonky, so she takes it slowly as she makes her way to the bathroom.

"It's all right if you fall asleep, love. You're doing a lot of work to grow our boys."

*****

A breeze wafts across her, jostling her out of a restless sleep. Her body feels heavy, ungainly and entirely unwilling to move like she wants it to. The sudden craving for barely cooked, warm, bloody steak assaults her until she feels the drool practically dripping off her chin. A shift in the breeze brings the scent of freshly slaughtered beef. She remembers that smell from the dairy farm that was next to her and Daniel's farm, remembers the beef that they would get in exchange for letting the dairy farmer use their furthest paddocks in the summer months for grazing purposes. 

Opening her eyes is like looking through a kaleidoscope on acid. No, not a kaleidoscope, but that's the closest thing she can think of. It makes her dizzy, sick to her stomach, and suddenly the scent of fresh, raw meat and blood makes her want to vomit. She tries to move, tries to get out of bed to get to the bathroom, but her body is swollen to inhuman proportions. Looking down with her strange vision, she sees a dark grey distended belly with a large white sac attached to the end of it with a white silk rope. Trying to touch it reveals no hands, but multiple spindly legs. She cannot figure out what is happening, and then an intense pain shudders through her body and she feels something literally crawling out of her in a rhythmic pattern. She tries to scream, but no sound comes out. Each pain drains more of her energy until she can barely keep her eyes open. Her body isn't as bloated now, but the white sac is far larger than it was before, practically dwarfing her now.

Her last thought before she loses consciousness is that she'll never meet her babies…

*****

"Regina! Love, wake up! It's just a bad dream."

She can hear his voice, but his words are gibberish in her fear and despair. When his arms wrap around her, she lets out a soft shriek and struggles against him briefly until her ear happens to press against his chest, right over his heart. The steady _thub-dub_ of his heartbeat instantly soothes her, the fight draining away as she slumps against him with a whimper.

"Shh, it's all right, love," he murmurs, one hand gently stroking her back. "You're safe now. It was just a dream. I've got you now. You and the boys are safe, I promise."

He repeats the words and variations until she calms fully in his arms, only soft sobs and whimpers escaping her now. His lips press gentle kisses to her hair, one arm cradling her close as his other hand still strokes her back and hair.

"Sorry," she whispers, voice cracking on that one word and making her cough.

Robin moves a bit, spiking her anxiety and causing her to grip onto his t-shirt more. "Hey, no, it's okay. I'm just getting this," he says, pressing the water bottle into her free hand. "Sip it slowly, love." She does as he says, the cool water soothing her throat and calming her mind and heart. "Is it helping?"

"Mm-hmm," she replies finally, offering him a small smile. "Thank you, Robin."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

It comes out slowly, in a blend of halting words and fumbling signs, not her usually finessed sign language, but she's tired and stressed and just out of sorts still. She hates how much more emotional she is during this pregnancy, how easily she can succumb to her demons, but she knows she doesn't have to face any of it alone.

"Perhaps we should save this book for after the boys are born then?" Robin says once her entire dream is out in the open between them. "I don't mind if we set it aside for now."

Regina shakes her head. "Maybe. I don't know. I'm not even sure why I had that nightmare in the first place. I've read this book hundreds of times over the course of my life. It's never caused a reaction like this before."'

"You've not been this pregnant while reading it before either, have you?" When she shakes her head, he nods and strokes her cheek. "Everything is different, love, and we'll deal with it together. Let's just set aside _Charlotte's Web_ for the time being. We can always come back to it at a later time. We've twelve more weeks until your due date, not to mention all sorts of time after the boys are born, plus any other children we may have after them. This isn't the only time we'll be reading it."

She smiles gratefully at him. "You're ri--" A yawn cuts off her words, and she snuggles into his chest again when he takes the water bottle from her.

"Do you think you can get back to sleep now?"

"Mm-hmm. Thank you, my love." She leans up to press a sweet kiss to his lips, more grateful to this man who stole her heart the minute they first met than she ever expected to be. "Please make sure we talk about this at our next therapy session? You know I'll try to forget about it."

He chuckles and releases his grip and she moves to settle in bed again, following suit once she's lying down. "I know you will, but that's not how we do things, is it, love?"

"Nope. We're stronger when we face things together," she replies, resting her head over his chest again as Robin pulls the covers up over them. "You, me, and our boys." She yawns again.

""Rest now, love. We'll talk more in the morning."

"Sweet dreams, Robin."

"The sweetest to you, milady."


End file.
